Happy New Year to our teams, sponsors, staff and fans! The PSP has been very busy in the off-season spending weeks in meetings working on many developments for the 2013 season including enhancements to the referee program, field adjustments, new marketing initiatives and of course locking in the event dates and venues.

After careful consideration, the league has elected to put the following field changes in place:

1) Two additional bunkers will be placed on each side of the field for a total of 4 additional bunkers.

2) The playing field will be reduced to 150 ft x 120 ft boundary to boundary.

Many more details regarding the 2013 season will be released in the days ahead.

The level of talent in the PSP Professional Division is undisputedly the fiercest in the world. Teams from all divisions train week in and out to ultimately one day become a Professional team in the PSP. Actually making the advancement into Pro however, has historically been too large of a move for most teams to make.

The PSP would like to change this by putting a system into place for fresh teams to move into an even stronger Pro League.

The PSP Professional teams will compete against each other in the 2013 PSP Dallas Open. The top 10 teams from that event will move on to PSP’s Event #2 and play in the newly established Champions Division. They will perform on the main field for all the glory in front of thousands of fans watching from the PaintballAccess.com webcast and the PSP grandstands.

The other Pro teams from the Dallas Open will be enlisted in a new division known as the Challengers Division. They will be joining other teams to be named at a later date. The group of teams in the Challengers Divisions will use the same format and rules, but play on a secondary Professional field during the prelims and will play their final match on the main field for all their fans to watch. Starting after Event #2, the top two teams from the Challengers Division in each event will move up and compete in the PSP Champions Division for the following event. They will be replacing the bottom 2 finishers from the previous event’s Champions Division, who will instead perform in the Challengers Division.

This system of constant circulation will continue event by event for seasons to come. It is now more important than ever for teams to give their all in each match – as they no longer have just one goal of winning the event – but must perform at their top in every game to make sure they do not suffer the consequence of being knocked out of the Champions Division. Likewise, the Challengers Division teams at each event have the option to perform and move up for the following event.

Below is a partial listing of the PSP rule changes for 2013 and is intended only as a quick reference guide to some of those changes with one exception. It is important for each team member to read the entire PSP Rulebook prior to play.

A.2.2.1. The 60 second rule which allowed for a "swing point" at the end of regulation or in overtime has been removed from this edition of the rulebook.

A.2.2.2. For Dallas pros 6 teams will advance to Sunday play with top two seeds receiving a bye to semi-finals and the teams ranked 11th and lower relegated to Challengers for the second event. For info on the playoff structure in the pro brackets after Dallas read section, 1.5.4. & 1.5.6.

A.2.2.3. For information on changes to the overtime rules as it applies to Race To-2 see section(s)

2.1.7. & 2.1.8. For changes to overtime rules as it applies to Race To-4/5 preliminary play see 2.2.8.3and 2.2.9. for Race To-7 prelims. For the structure of overtime periods and play in any playoff situation see section 2.3.

A.2.2.4. See 5.1. for rules change regarding layers of cloths, padding and (5.2.2.) formal recognition of slider shorts as a form of protective gear.

A.2.2.5. Section 5.1.9. has reduced from 3 to 2 the number of items that may be worn on the head.

A.2.2.8. Section 5.6.3. no longer allows shoes to have limited amounts of the protected color, yellow, on them. Shoes were removed from the list of worn items allowed trace amounts of the protected color yellow.

A.2.2.9. Section 6.1.2. outlines league intent for tighter security measures in 2013 and more severe penalties for violators.

A.2.2.10. Section 6.1.1.5.2. addresses non-verbal "communication" infractions from the pit to the field.

A.2.2.13. Section 6.5.1. restructures 'loss of possession' during a point in order to reduce the number of frivolous player eliminations based on incidental or accidental occurrences, like running out of a shoe or even unintentionally knocking the hopper off your marker.

A.2.2.14. Section 6.5.2. allows players to pick paint up off the ground and shoot it.

Again, the above is just a partial listing of the PSP rule changes for 2013 and is intended only as a quick reference guide to some of those changes. It is important for each team member to read the entire PSP Rulebook prior to play. For more information on the PSP visit www.PSPevents.com